Dark Division - Dani Ch. 03

"Are there any more of you inside?"

"No." The demon must have been new. He was in a middle aged man's body, but his nervousness at just Vince's words gave him away.

"Good, you cooperate, and we let you take a trip back home. You fail and I'll obliterate you. Understand?" Vince's voice was low and gravelly. He slipped into that voice when he needed answers and it usually scared the hell out of whomever he was talking to.

"Please, I'm just here to learn. Let me go, and I won't tell anybody that you were here." He sounded so nervous it was weird. Vince made eye contact with Dani and shrugged.

"Okay, what are you guys looking for?" Dani approached his face as Vince continued to hold him from behind.

"I don't know exactly. I was sent here at the last minute because I was a witch before I died. All I know is I did some spell they gave me and it's supposed to glow in the lake." The man talked quickly, sweating profusely.

"What's supposed to glow?"

"There's a trunk somewhere near here under the lake. There was a location spell, and it makes it light up at dusk. It's on the bottom of lake."

"That's like 15 minutes right?" Vince asked him.

"Yes, now please let me go."

"No way, we get the trunk and then you go. Until then, you stay. And, if you lied to us, I'll make it really painful." Vince scowled as he led the man towards the lake.

"Shit, we have to go in the damn lake." Dani shook her head as she followed.

"We? Oh no sweetheart. I'm on demon holding duty, remember? You get to go for a swim."

"Damnit. Fine." She stripped her gear off including her gun and cell phone. Vince stood praying she would lose more, hell he wanted her to get naked and go in the lake just so he could see." She straightened up, much to his chagrin.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow as she gazed across the lake.

"Are you going in in all your clothes?" He smirked devilishly at her.

"Yep, don't know what's in that lake, so not taking anything else off. I guess it's not your lucky day."

"Shucks." He smirked again, enjoying the playful banter to hide his desire and the accompanying awkwardness.

In another few minutes, the sun started to settle, shedding an orange glow across the lake. They all watched, and sure enough as the last embers of the sun settled, a green glow came from a spot about fifteen meters from where they stood at the lake's edge. Dani shrugged and jumped in with a scream before swimming out to the glow. She disappeared beneath the surface and Vince waited, worrying she might be in danger when she didn't come up for a few minutes.

Dani surfaced in another few seconds with a gasp. "Vince, I can't get it on my own. I need your help man." She yelled across the lake.

"Can you drag it?" The last thing he wanted to do was get into that lake.

"Get your ass in here, it's freezing. I don't want to lose it before the glow stops." She yelled out to him again looking irritated even from the distance.

"Sorry man, can't take the chance you'll send more out." He said the words to the man in his arms.

"What?" He was confused, but the conversation ended there as Vince drew the blade across his throat. It was unfortunate, but if he was going in the water, then he couldn't leave the guy out here unguarded.

Once done, Vince threw his gear next to Dani's and jumped in the lake swimming out to her. When he reached her, she signaled and dove down.

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"Alright boys, well I haven't heard back from my officers. So, looks like you're spending the night here. I have to wait for a few more officers to come on shift tomorrow to go investigate." The Chief had appeared and cracked the door briefly.

"Why don't you go out and investigate and we'll come along?" Stan suggested it and Nick looked at him without even getting up from his seat on one of the cell's cots.

"Now, if something happened to me the town would have no one to watch it. So, tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send some guys out and I'll call your boss."

"You're a piece of work Chief, let me tell you." Nick chimed in.

"Well, here are some sandwiches from the deli next door. You boys try to be comfortable for the night."

He shut the door without another word and the two guys were left in the room only lit by faint moonlight. Stan slumped down in the cot. Nick picked up his phone dialing Vince.

"Hey, how's it going out there?" He half expected his partner not to answer, given he didn't know what the situation at the cabin was.

"We uh...huh...we got the thing...shit...the demons are dead...but we're fucking cold man, where are you?" He swore he could hear Vince's teeth chattering on the other end of the line.

"Looks like we're spending the night in the jail, and then he'll call Oz tomorrow."

"Fuck! We...we...won't make it to the station. Too cold. We'll have to stay at the cabin...and...fuck...ward it."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"The thing was in the lake and it was...fucking...cold. Had to swim...need to get warm...call you in the morning...or...you...huh...call me."

"Sounds good. Get warm man and don't try anything that'll get you shot by Dani huh?"

"Screw...you..." Vince hung up and Nick was left with a grin on his face.

"Are they okay?" Stan called out.

"Yep, just apparently wet and cold from swimming in the lake."

"Well, I'm glad I didn't have to deal with that one." Stan blurted it out, thankful for at least part of being in this damn cell.

"Same here, although, I would like to see the look on Vince's face seeing her after the lake." Nick said it out loud without even thinking.

"Wait, he doesn't still have a thing for her does he?" Stan sat up on his cot on the opposite side of the dimly lit room from Nick.

"He says he doesn't, but from what I've seen I'm not so sure."

"Well, sorry to tell you, but she hasn't really talked much about him or anything. Plus, she's been up to her same old pursuant of skirts."

"I figured she wasn't going straight for him. You know, though, now that you mention it; I don't think I've seen Vince with anybody since we met you guys. I gotta tell you I have never seen him this caught up on any woman."

"Man, now I wish I was there to see them right now. You know, she's probably going to strip down without even a second thought. As weird as it is that she has no self-consciousness around men; it kind of makes me like her even more. Dani has really become my family over this last year."

"The job does that to you. You get close. Vince and I share everything, and we've been through a lot together. The only thing he doesn't talk to me about is Dani. That's why I figure he really cares about her. I just hope they end up being friends, because I think he needs a connection to someone beyond me. I hate to think that if I was gone he'd be alone."

"Dani and I are the same way. I could tell you every one of her little habits. You know we only have each other. Our families are both gone, and if something happened to her...I just wouldn't know what to do."

"I suppose when it comes to that you become a supervisor and live off by yourself. At least that's what I figured happened with Oz. He won't talk about it, but that's what Brian told me."

"Brian?"

"Yea Brian was our boss down in the southeast when we were really embedded. He lost a partner, and instead of trying to hook up with someone else, Oz helped him become a supervisor. Of course, he's not alone now, but you know."

"Is he back with a partner?"

"Sort of, I'm not really supposed to talk about it much. I guess you could say he has a partner though, she works for another agency and they are cooperating. The reality between you and me is Brian fell in love so he has a real partner now. I think he'll probably retire or something like that in the next few years."

"Really? You know you don't hear about that much. At least I haven't so far. It never seems that someone retires from the Division. I just hear sad stories. I guess I figure we're doing good work though. I mean after my family was killed by vamps, well I wanted nothing but to kill every last one out there."

"Uh...you know you have to be careful with that. If there's one thing I've learned it's that the world is a lot less black and white than I thought it was when I started. I've even met some pretty good monsters at this point, ones that we've looked the other way on. You'll learn though, learn to live in the shadowy grey that is the Dark Division."

"I guess I am just getting started. Dani is a pretty kick ass teacher, though. I couldn't ask for someone more patient or someone with more knowledge. She knows her shit and never forgets a monster that she's tangled with. There's a sadness that she carries though, and I can never place it."

"Huh. I always see her kind of happy, like this job really fits her." Nick was thoroughly intrigued now. He never saw a hint of her sadness, not once.

"It does, like 90% of the time. But then, once in a while, she'll get piss drunk and find a quiet place. I've seen her just break down and cry for hours. I've tried to talk to her about it, but she won't. So, I just sit with her and we drown our sorrows."

"You know Vince is kind of like that. He doesn't cry, though. But, he gets drunk and just sits somewhere thinking. He's not a talker, but I usually sit with him too. I guess they both have some darkness they try to chase away."

"Yea, I mean I was pretty fucked up when my family died and I still have moments. But, at least I can talk to her about it. I wish she was more open on that front, but that's just not Dani. She's tough as nails, but I guess we all crack once in a while."

"I talk to Vince about my war history. I think I told you I lost my best friend over there. I have my PTSD moments, and Vince is pretty solid on helping me out there. He's stubborn about his though. You know it's funny how much they really are alike. It's just a damn shame that it'll never work."

"Well, agents aren't supposed to fraternize anyways, right?"

"Right. But, uh, I'm pretty sure they do. At least, that's what I've heard through the grapevine, even about Oz. But, of course, I'm not gonna ask the old man."

"Me neither. Hey, I think I'm going to crash out for a bit. Will you get me if something goes down?" Stan sighed and laid back on the threadbare mattress that smelled far too musty.

"I guess I'm gonna try to crash out too. If you hear something before I do, let me know too." Nick scooted back, trying to deal with much the same smell and discomfort as Stan.

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